Week Forty-Four
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| "Star For A Night" 1936 |
MOVIE NAME: STAR FOR A NIGHT
STUDIO: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: JACK L. WARNER and HAL B. WALLIS
PRODUCER: SOL M. WURTZEL
DIRECTOR: LEWIS SEILER
DATE: 1936
TYPE: DOMESTIC, DRAMA with Songs
SONGS:"Over A Cup of Coffee," "Down Around Malibu Way," "Holy Lie Production Routine #1," "You're My Favorite One"
CAST:
CLAIRE TREVOR as Nina Lind, JANE DARWELL as Mrs. Martha Lind, ARLINE JUDGE as Mamie DeLaMont, EVELYN VENABLE as Anna Lind, J. EDWARD BROMBERG as Dr. Spellmeyer , DEAN JAGGER as Fritz Lind, ALAN DINCHART as James Dunning, JOYCE COMPTON as Ellen Romaine, SUSAN FLEMING as Mildred La Rue, ADRIENNE MARDEN as Katherine Lind , FRANK REICHER as Dr. Hellmkin , DICKIE WALTERS as Paul Lind, CHICK CHANDLER as Eddie , ASTRID ALWIN as Josephine Hall, HATTIE McDANIEL as Hattie, SONNY BUPP, as Fritz
SOURCE: A F I, Catalog of Feature Films 1931-1940
STORY: In a village in the Austrian Tyrol, the neighbor's of the blind Frau Martha Lind give her a going away party as she prepares to go to New York to visit her three children: Anna, Whom she says is a concert pianist; Fritz, whom she thinks owns an automobile factory; and Nina, whom she believes is a famous singer and dancer. In reality, Anna plays the piano at a music store, Fritz drives a cab and Nina is a chorus girl. When the children receive their mother's cable that she is coming for a visit, Nina convinces them that they must keep up the their deception because their mother would be ashamed to know that they have spent their money that really could not afford to send her to eye specialists in Europe. Because of Mrs. Lind's blindness, the ruse works, but it is endangered when Dr. Spellmeyer, a former student of Mrs. Lind's doctor from Austria, arrives at Anna's small Third Avenue apartment to examine Mrs. Lind. After listening to Anna's story about the charade, he calls her courageous and does not let on. Dr. Spellmeyer's operation to restore Mrs. Lind's vision is successful, and when Nina learns that her mother will be able to see in a few days, she breaks down and cries a number, which angers the self-centered star, Josephine Hall, who wants to have Nina fired. Nina's two friends on the chorus line, Mamie DeLaMont and Mildred La Rue, convince a ditzy blonde friend, Ellen Romaine, to let Nina borrow her fancy clothes and apartment that her wealthy beau has given her. Because Mrs. Lind wants to see Nina's show, Mamie, Mildred and Ellen ask Josephine to pretend to be sick one night so that Nina, Josephine's understudy can go in her place. When Josephine indignantly refuses, they lock her in her liquor closet, and when she does not appear at the theater, Nina is starred in the show. Mrs. Lind sees the performance, but at the end of the first act, Josephine, who has been let out by her maid, comes onstage and slaps Nina. The audience is unsure if the disruption is part of the act, and during intermission, when the producer learns what happened , he gives Josephine's role to Nina. Hoping to capitalize on the story, the producer calls the newspapers, and the next day, which is Thanksgiving, Ellen, Mamie and Mildred awaken to read about it in the headlines. They call Nina, who then plans with Ana to keep their mother from reading the papers. They find, however, that she has left the apartment. Mrs. Lind goes to the Third Avenue apartment, and later in the day, Anna's landlady calls to have the whole family come at once. They find that mother has prepared a Thanksgiving meal and has learned about the ruse. Rather than being upset, Mrs. Lind says that she is prouder of her children than she would have been if they had really been what they pretended to be. When Mamie, Mildred and Ellen come to join the family, Mrs. Lind says grace and blesses them all.
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